Highly Commended
AstraZeneca Global Corporate Affairs
Summary of work
2019 was a seminal year in AstraZeneca’s (AZ) corporate turnaround. It would be the year the Company aimed for robust, double-digit growth after a period of decline, while also launching a new corporate strategy and organisational model to ensure future success.
In this context, the AZ Global Corporate Affairs (GCA) team set ambitious objectives to:
- build external stakeholder belief in AZ’s leadership in its therapy areas and return to growth,
- build employee understanding of the Company’s new corporate strategy and organisational model, and
- position AZ as a trusted partner with governments and collaborate to deliver innovative solutions to improve patient access to treatment, advance outcomes and enhance healthcare system efficiency.
Despite a remarkably lean team vs. FTSE company peers, GCA achieved outstanding results. The team delivered an unprecedented volume of news-flow about its medicines, resulting in higher positive sentiment than competitors across top ten media outlets. GCA achieved employee engagement scores that reached Global High Performing Norms, despite large-scale organisational change. And government relations were instrumental in launching innovation hubs, delivering innovative payment solutions and strengthening relations to enable ongoing collaboration. Perhaps most importantly, the team’s work cemented GCA’s critical role in the success of AZ.
Judges’ comments
AstraZeneca had a refreshingly honest approach and were very brave in the way they tackled the six-year decline, which shone through in both their entry and presentation. The team showed a very comprehensive approach in challenging times, with clear objectives and both quantitative and qualitative outcomes.
